Homes are becoming more wired and connected with the proliferation of computing devices such as desktops, tablets, entertainment systems, and portable communication devices. As these computing devices evolve, many different ways have been introduced to allow users to interact with computing devices, such as through mechanical devices (e.g., keyboards, mice, etc.), touch screens, motion, and gesture. Another way to interact with computing devices is through natural language input such as speech input.
The use of natural language input to interact with computing devices presents many challenges. One example challenge concerns the discovery, pairing, and configuration of secondary devices that are controlled by a primary computing device or system which in turn provides for natural language input by users to control the primary computing device and the secondary device(s). In general, the user may provide such information by clicking on a window, pressing an icon on a touch screen, or otherwise explicitly configuring the primary and secondary computing devices using a non-natural language input. However, some systems may not provide for non-natural language input to the primary computing device or may only provide for limited non-natural language input to the primary computing device.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques to provide a satisfactory user experience when interacting with natural language control devices in such situations.